How It Should Be
by MusicalLife13
Summary: They've been searching for years, trying to find her and figure out what had happened. Just as they come across her at long last, a dark shadow looms on the horizon – one that could destroy everything for once and for all. Join our merry band of misfits on a journey of truth, redemption, and of course danger as they help their best girl rediscover how it should be...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, it's my first time trying my hand at the Wonderful World of HP, and I can only hope I do JKR justice since I'm merely playing with her toys (safe to say that anything you recognize isn't mine). I've seen stories similar to this before, but I've yet to find one that progresses the way mine does. That said, there are about 41000 DM/HG stories out there and I haven't quite made it through them all so please bear with me if some of it sounds a bit familiar, plot-wise, at first. :p It's a bit of a slow start (yes, the first couple of chapters are meant to be a bit confusing), but I do promise to explain everything as I go along. Enjoy!

***** 1 – Strangers in the Park *****

Liz Cooper spread her old blanket out on the ground and gracefully laid herself down on it. It was a beautiful summer day, and she was not going to waste it inside. Her summer had been so boring since she couldn't afford to leave her small hometown near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but she had managed to keep herself somewhat occupied. Now the summer was ending and she had a few days off before school started again. So she had tossed her favourite book into her purse and grabbed her favourite blanket, and walked up to her old elementary school park. Normally it was a wonderfully quiet place to be, but the warm weather had brought out all kinds of people to her small hiding place. There were kids playing on the swings, adults walking their dogs on the paths, and a trio of young men playing baseball on one of the diamonds.

Sighing, Liz opened her book and resigned herself to the fact that this would not be a quiet day for her. Nevertheless, she found her place, and began to lose herself in the literary world as she kicked her sandals off her feet. She became so immersed in her novel that she didn't realize that several people were glancing at her frequently out of the corners of their eyes. She missed the strangers' eyes that gazed upon her 24-year-old frame. These eyes saw the curly honey coloured hair falling down her back from where it was held securely by a hair elastic and some bobby pins, the warm and curious brown eyes that ran along the pages of her book, and the slender figure and long legs encased in her favourite summer outfit of capris and a red tank top. But she saw none of this, she was so deep into the plot of her novel.

"Heads up!" The sudden shout brought Liz back to reality, and she gasped as a baseball struck the ground about 5 feet from where she was sprawled. It bounced once, and its momentum sent it straight for her. Not even thinking, she dropped her book and raised her hands in time to catch it. With a sigh of relief, she briefly closed her eyes, only to find three young men running towards her when she reopened them.

"Are you alright?" the blond man in the group asked, a concerned tone accentuating his thick British accent. His startlingly gray eyes seemed familiar, but Liz brushed it off quickly. She'd never known anyone with gray eyes before.

Smiling softly, she nodded her head and held the ball out to him. "I'm good. After ten years of playing baseball, I would have been fairly disappointed if I'd missed that catch," she replied, her own smile widening as he gave her one in return. Kneeling down to be at her eye level, he took the ball from her, and she felt a rush of warmth run through her fingers when they touched his.

"I'm so sorry about that." Another British voice broke her trance-like state, and she looked away from the blond man and into a pair of bright green eyes. Attached to those eyes was a young man with messy dark hair, a small scar on his forehead and round glasses adorning his face. "This git likes to close his eyes when he swings the bat," he continued, pointing at the third person with them, a young man with bright red hair, freckles, and a pair of clear blue eyes.

The redhead rolled his eyes. "Well excuse me for concentrating on what I was doing."

Liz smiled at their banter. They reminded her so much of her friends Sam and Isaac. They had a very similar relationship. The blond man had been watching her intently the entire time, but at the redhead's comment, he allowed a smile to grace his handsome face as he looked at his fellow players.

"Alright you goons, let's leave the lady to her reading and get back to our game," he said as he stood. Looking back down at Liz, he smiled softly. "Again, we're really sorry about the ball, and for making you lose your place in your book."

"That's ok," Liz replied as she picked up her book. "I've read it so many times that I can easily pick up where I left off." With that, she opened her book up, and quickly found the part of the story where she had last been.

Giving her one last smile, the blond stranger walked off with his comrades and resumed their game. Liz read a couple sentences in her book, and then glanced up at where the boys were playing when she heard a great crack of a bat hitting a ball. She watched over the top of her book as the redhead stumbled somewhat clumsily around the bases. She saw the dark haired man and the blond both race with ease for the ball that he had hit this time. With incredible agility, they both jumped into the air, lunging for the ball. They captured it together, the ball held between them in both their gloves. Liz could hear them shouting at each other in their warm, foreign voices. She had always loved talking to people with accents, mainly because she wished she had one.

Liz smiled as she returned her attention to her page, only to notice that there were a few marks on it that hadn't been there before. She watched as a few more added themselves to the collection. It was only then that she realized it had started to rain. She glanced up, and wondered how she had missed it becoming so cloudy.

Liz quickly closed her book, and grabbed her purse and blanket as she pulled her shoes back on. She threw her blanket over her head as the rain really began to come down. Normally she adored the rain, just not when she was caught in it with her books. She looked around for shelter, and instinctively ran for cover under a tree. As she got there, she pulled the blanket off her head to find her three baseball players underneath the tree as well.

"Fancy meeting you guys here," she joked, bringing smiles to their faces as she shook some of the rain from her curls.

"Nice day this turned out to be," replied the blond man with a smirk. Liz smiled back at him and looked out from under the tree's branches while her hands subconsciously put her book back into her purse.

"I don't know how it got so dark so quickly," she admitted. "It is a bit strange."

"That seems to happen a lot around us," the redhead muttered, trying to keep his voice down. Liz's head whipped around in time to see the blond man elbow his friend in the chest. "The way things creep up on us, I mean. We get so into some things that we don't realize when things around us change."

"Like Quidditch," the dark haired man replied, just before his eyes widened and he clamped his mouth shut. The blond man shot him a deadly look, and Liz caught this despite her definite confusion.

"Like what?" she asked them.

The men all looked at her, and the dark haired man spoke up first. "It's just a game we made up. It's a cross between football and basketball, and played outside on broo—broad hills."

He had been speaking very quickly, and this caused Liz's shields to go up. Something wasn't right about this explanation, especially since she could tell that 'broad hills' was not what he had originally meant to say.

"It sounds interesting," she said, trying to keep her tone neutral. "Which type of football do you mean, though? British or American?"

"British," the redhead replied quickly.

"The teams are smaller, like our football," the dark haired man further explained. "American style football doesn't make much sense to us, frankly."

"Me neither. I don't understand the appeal of it at all," Liz said honestly. The blond man had been very quiet during this whole exchange, and she only now noticed that his intense gaze was focused solely on her. As her eyes met his, she felt that warmth trickle down her spine again. It was inexplicable, but she really felt that she knew him. This scared her a little, especially with his eyes always watching her. She almost missed what the redhead said in response to her football comment, but the strangeness of it drew her attention away from the blond man's stare.

"Yeah, stupid muggles just love seeing each other get beat up over a ball. At least our game requires skills." He didn't seem to register what he had just said, but the other two did. The dark haired man's eyes widened again, and the blond let out a soft growl of frustration.

"Stupid what?" she asked quietly, turning away from the blonde's gaze to look at the redhead. She was starting to get severely creeped out by this group. There was something familiar about them, but the way they were speaking unnerved her. The three men desperately searched for something to say, but Liz cut them off before they could make an attempt. "You know what, I think I'm going to try and make a run for it before it gets worse." And with that, she threw the blanket back over her head and bolted from the shelter of the tree and into the pounding rain.

"Nice going Harry," the redhead muttered angrily. "We finally get to talk to her, and you blow it by mentioning Quidditch. Poor thing looked petrified at that."

"Well your mentioning strange occurrences happening around us a lot probably didn't help matters either. And what the bloody hell did you think you were doing mentioning muggles so casually like that? No wonder she was scared, she doesn't know what a muggle is!" Harry Potter replied to his best friend. Ron Weasley's face flushed a crimson colour that clashed terribly with his hair as he realized that his friend was right.

"At least we got to talk to her," came a quiet voice from behind them. The blond man stared longingly in the direction that Liz had run, wanting so badly to run after her, but knowing he couldn't. "She's alright, for now."

"You can't beat yourself up over this mate," Ron told him. "You know what has to happen for this to work."

"We all want her back," Harry added. "We just need to be patient. The thought of her running into danger like this sickens me, but she won't be alone."

Nodding softly, Draco Malfoy let out a sigh when he realized that he could no longer see her form running in the rain. Turning to his friends, he nodded again. "Time to go," he said as he pulled his wand from his pocket. The other two mimicked his actions, and with three small pops, they were gone.


	2. Chapter 2

***** 2 – Quiet Hallways *****

Liz stumbled along as quickly as she could. The rain was pelting down on her hard, showing no signs of letting up. This had not been her smartest move, but she didn't think that staying with those three strangers was all that brilliant either. Some of the things they had said confused her to no end. Who makes up a sport called quidditch that involves 'broad hills', and what on earth was a muggle? It was definitely her cue to leave when that comment was made.

Knowing that the rain wasn't going to be letting up, she headed in the direction of her old elementary school. There were a few overhangs that she could hide under, and she was pretty sure that she could still get in the door if the rain got worse. The school had closed down a few years back, but she had always been able to get in when it had been locked before.

The intense wind almost knocked her off her feet as she struggled towards the front doors. They would provide the most shelter, and they were her best bet for getting in (at least, they always had been). Liz finally slipped around the corner and under the front overhang, breathing a sigh of relief. She laid her head back against the cool brick, and let herself catch her breath. Her reprieve was brief, however, as the wind changed directions, and sent torrents of rain hurtling into her small shelter.

Liz cried out at the sudden change, and tried to shield herself from the rain using her thoroughly soaked blanket. Knowing that she wasn't going to last against this rain by running again, she made a split-second decision, and headed for the old building's doors. It had been a few years since she had managed to gain entrance to the building, but she quickly remembered the right way to jiggle the handle. She grinned with success as she managed to pull the door open, but that happiness was short-lived as the rain almost seemed to intensify. It was almost as if she was being pushed inside the building by the rain. Taking the hint, even though she didn't know she was doing so, Liz pulled the door open enough to just squeeze her slim body through. The less rain that got in, the better. The door slammed shut behind her with the ferociousness of the rain, and she jumped a few feet in the air as the darkness enveloped her.

Struggling to calm her breath, Liz let the silence of the building ease her heart even though the darkness of her surroundings still frightened her. She rummaged around in her purse for a few moments before producing a small cell phone. Opening it up, she noticed that she didn't have any reception in the school ('stupid thick cement walls!' she thought), and therefore couldn't call anyone to let them know she was ok. But the battery on her phone was fully charged, and she knew that the brightness of it could at least light her way inside the school. Gathering herself, she looked around at the old building for the first time in years.

It was nothing like it had been back when she was a student there, but then again that had been almost thirteen years ago. No longer did pictures of happy students and their accomplishments adorn the walls. There were no desks in the hallway outside the old principal's office, and it looked as though several doors had been removed from the old classrooms. The school that had once been warm and inviting to Liz was now cold and unfriendly, and she was more uncomfortable here than she had been back with those Brits.

Liz made her way into one of the classrooms, and saw that there was a small crack in the boards that covered the windows. Leaning as close as she could, she caught a glimpse of the outside world, and was happy to see that the rain had stopped. It almost looked like the sun was coming out again. It was all very strange, considering how quickly the storm had come up and now passed, but Liz was just happy that she could get out of this place and head home. She climbed over a desk, and began to make her way towards the door of the room when she heard it.

The soft scratching sound.

It was barely audible, but Liz had always had a keen sense of hearing. She could hear the smallest sounds in the loudest atmospheres. Looking around, she tried to find the source, but was met with silence. Knowing that she had heard the sound, she exited the room, determined to prove to herself that it hadn't been in her head. She glanced up and down the old hallways, looking as far as her phone's light would allow but still seeing nothing.

Then she heard it again, and became even more determined than before. It had been a little louder now that she was in the hall, and it seemed to be coming from her right. So screwing up her courage, she plunged into the darkness of the hallway, her cell phone lighting the way.

It was a few moments before she heard the scratching a third time, this time coming from a door to her left. Her memory of the school she had known so intimately (being made fun of a lot way back when, she had quickly found a number of great hiding places where she could be alone with herself) told her that these were the doors that headed down to the old boiler room. She remembered having to go down there once with the janitor to get some supplies for a clean-up day the school had had. Her curiosity now got the better of her, and she reached for the doorknob, only to find it locked. Not willing to admit defeat, she reached up to her hair, and pulled out one of the bobby pins holding it in place. For some reason, this had always been the only door lock that actually needed to be picked when it was locked. All the others in the school could be opened with a simple jiggle, but never this one.

Liz crouched down and set to work on the door. She closed her phone after inserting the pin into the keyhole; she wouldn't need light for this job, only her ears. Closing her eyes to completely block everything out, she maneuvered the pin around in the lock until she heard a faint click. Smiling, she opened her eyes, and quietly turned the doorknob. Stuffing her phone back into her purse, she reached into the darkness and grasped the wooden railing that lined the wall next to the stairs that she knew were there. Liz could see a very dim light at the bottom of the stairs, and wondered if it was maybe the last of the emergency generator. Wanting to see her little adventure through, she quietly descended the stairs, gripping the railing so tightly she was sure that her knuckles would be white.

When she reached the bottom, she turned the corner, and received the shock of her life.

What had once been a boiler room was now set up like a dungeon, with torches on the walls, actual cells with bars on them, and even what seemed to be an old-fashioned torture device. She could see a man lying on the ground, attached to the wall by a chain around his ankle. He was barely moving, but when he did, the chain was pulled across the ground in a scratching sound.

Liz covered her mouth with fear and disgust. She had to get out of there and get some help for this poor man. Who knows how many people had been put down here, and what had happened to them. As soon as she got out of the school she would call the police about this atrocity.

But she never got that chance. As she turned to run out the way she came, she slammed into something soft yet hard, and felt something else strike the back of her head. Dizziness and darkness overtook her as she fell to the ground, yet she struggled to stay awake. In the soft torchlight of the room, she could make out the shadows of two men standing over her. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she heard one of them say something that she would later forget.

"Go call the boss. Tell him that we got her."


	3. Chapter 3

***** 3 – Not So Alone *****

Liz woke up with a pounding headache. Groaning softly, she raised her hand to the back of her head, where she felt the goose-egg sized lump left by her adventure down to the boiler room. She laid on the floor for a few moments as the events that transpired before her journey into slumber came back into her memory banks. Still in pain, but knowing she couldn't lie there forever, Liz slowly tried to sit up. As she did, she felt warm hands on her back, helping her.

"Thank Merlin, she's awake!" a female voice whispered with a touch of a French accent.

"I wasn't sure she was going to wake up, that bump looked like it was a good bludger hit," said a male in the room, German creeping into his vocals.

"She must be a tough one," commented a British male from behind her. "She was only out for an hour after they brought her in here."

Liz finally found the strength to open her eyes, and take in the people around her. Once the blurriness left her vision, she was able to see them clearly.

The French woman who had spoken was very slim with blue eyes and white blonde hair. She wore a set of what looked like white hospital scrubs, but Liz could see the bruises on her arms, and the gauntness of her face. This woman looked like she hadn't eaten in weeks.

The man next to her had more meat on his bones, but even he looked half-starved in his scrubs. Liz assumed him to be the German man, and he had short brown hair, and amber eyes that were incredibly dull. What had happened to him to make them lose the sparkle of life, Liz wondered.

She couldn't directly see the British man that was currently supporting her back and holding her up, but a glance around their stark surroundings revealed a window in front of her, and Liz caught sight of his reflection. He looked the worst out of them all, fairly skinny with very little muscle, yet Liz strangely felt much strength in his grasp. His raven black hair hung down to his shoulders, hiding his eyes, but when he moved, Liz caught the brightest blue she had ever seen. In the dim reflection, Liz could also see the dirt on his scrubs, and the dark bruises on his arms. As she gazed into the reflection of the window, she noticed her own. She was pale, much paler than she had ever seen herself, and she was also in a pair of fresh, white scrubs.

"Where am I?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

The British man behind her, gently leaned her back, and tipped something towards her lips. "Here, drink this," he said in the softest voice. "It'll help."

A glance at the French woman and the German man assured her that his intentions were noble, and she closed her eyes as she felt cool water slide into her mouth. She'd never tasted anything so wonderful in her life. As he pulled the water back, she opened her eyes and gave him a grateful smile.

"You had us all quite worried my dear. You did not look like you were in a good way when they brought you in here," the French woman said, taking Liz's hand.

"What happened to me?" Liz inquired. "The last thing I remember is being down in the boiler room, and – "

"Oh my, that's not something anyone wants to see," the German man admitted, shaking his head.

"Where are we?"

It was the man behind her who answered her query. "We're in some kind of holding facility. None of us know what we were brought here for, and no one will talk to us."

"How long have you been in here for?"

"Angelique here has been a resident for almost a month now, and Gustav has been here for about two weeks, I would assume."

"And what about you?" Liz asked, turning so she could actually see the man behind her.

The dark hair shielded his expression from her view. "Four months."

Liz gasped in horror. "Four months? And no one has told you why?"

The man shook his head sadly. "I was only brought into this cell a few hours ago. I was in another before…"

"Before what, Blake?" Angelique asked, placing her free hand on the man's arm.

"I'm not sure what happened to the people I was in the cell with, but they'd been here longer that I."

Silence permeated the room as they all took in what this might mean.

"What's your name, dear?" Gustav was trying to lighten the seriousness of the situation with his tone, but it made little difference.

"Liz. And I think I just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Whatever do you mean?" Angelique again. She seemed very inquisitive.

"Are we in the same building as the boiler room I saw?" Liz asked them. Angelique nodded, and Liz shook her head. "This is my old elementary school. I came in here looking for shelter from a horrendous rain storm, and could hear a scratching sound. I followed it down to the boiler room where I was knocked out."

"That does sound like a case of wrong place, wrong time," Gustav admitted. "Unfortunately, you must be on their list, otherwise they would have tossed you out back into the storm."

"The storm was gone by the time I got to the boiler room," Liz admitted. "I peeked out a cracked board in a classroom window and saw the sun out again."

"Did the storm come up out of nowhere, and was really bad?" Blake asked. Liz nodded in reply. "Sounds like how I got in here," Blake finished. "Except they got me as soon as I walked in the door."

"They took me from my home," Angelique admitted. "I had just sent my children off to school. If they'd stayed a few moments longer…" she lowered her head and covered her face with her hands.

Gustav reached out and stroked her back comfortingly. "They got me as I was leaving work. I had stayed late to work on a new ministry policy when they came into my office."

Liz looked around at these poor people, not knowing what to say or do. "Have they spoken to any of you?"

"Only to tell us which of us they're taking for tests," Blake replied bitterly.

"Tests?" Liz asked, fear creeping into her voice. "What kind of tests?"

"See, that's the scariest part," Gustav answered. "We come back and we have no memory of what they did."

"Just bruises." Angelique was fingering a black mark on her upper arm that looked like it was from a type of restraint.

"Do they not feed you?" Liz demanded.

"Crusts of bread and water. Sometimes we get moldy cheese too, but that's all." Gustav held his stomach gingerly.

"They do take us out for meal times," Blake admitted. "But we're just put into a different cell where there's food, and then moved back shortly thereafter."

"It's like we're animals," Angelique whispered before dissolving into tears. Gustav pulled her close, and held her as she cried, whispering softly to her.

Liz felt tears sting her eyes, and backhanded them before they got out of control. She turned to face Blake, her eyes blazing with determination. "I won't stay here like an animal. There must be something we can do!" she quietly insisted.

Blake lowered his face to her ear and whispered softly. "I've been studying this place for the four months I've been in here. I think I know a way to get us out, but I can't do it alone. And I'm not sure if those two would make it."

"What do you mean?"

"They're too defeated. It's almost as if they have no will to survive."

"But I'm sure if they had the opportunity, they would."

Blake shrugged his shoulders, and Liz could feel the movement with their close proximity. "Maybe. I need to refine the plan before I can say for certain if it would work."

Liz looked up at him, her eyes hard. "How can I help?"


	4. Chapter 4

***** 4 – The Plan & The Escape *****

If mealtimes were to be used to judge time, Liz had been in the holding cell about 4 days when Blake came to her with a complete plan. In those four days, she had made sure to eat the food that was put in front of her, to conserve as much of her strength as she could. She encouraged Gustav and Angelique to do the same, and it seemed as though they were listening to the newcomer.

Liz had watched silently as each of the other three were taken for their tests each day. On her second day in there, she had tried fighting one of the guards that took Angelique, and she had a lovely black eye to show for it. She learned to stay quiet after that, mainly to not rouse suspicion of any escape attempts that were in the works. Her fellow captives always came back with a dazed look on their faces, and she made sure to hug them and comfort them as they realized what had happened each time.

But for some reason they hadn't come for her yet. Perhaps they were just biding their time, trying to find some things out about her past before they brought her out for testing. Either way, she was thankful, and spent her time alone in a meditative state, gathering all her energy together and trying to channel it without exhausting herself. She would need this ability if they were to escape. While she meditated, she was often visited by the swirling gray eyes of the stranger from the school park. Liz had been angry at first at him for scaring her into the rain and school, but quickly came to realize that his eyes, along with the eyes of his two friends, had never scared her but only confused her. She quickly came to the conclusion that he had nothing to do with this, and often let thoughts of him drift through her mind, giving her strength.

On her fourth day in captivity, Blake had sat next to her after the other two were taken for testing. It was then that he leaned over and whispered in her ear on single word.

"Tomorrow."

She looked up at his both with determination and trepidation. What could happen in the span of a day to get them out of this cell? He pulled her into a hug and began to relay the plan. The people holding them had gotten to the point where they thought Blake to be completely harmless, and were taking fewer precautions with him over the past month. As such, he had been able to really check the place out without being caught. Blake had discovered a set of switches that locked down the entire building, including the room they were in. Every time they took him for his testing, he saw them flick a certain switch, presumably to their holding room. The panel was on a wall near a door that was less than 50 feet from where they were currently residing. He described its location to Liz, and she was able to deduce that it was a switch on the wall near the gymnasium, and that they were in a classroom on the opposite side of the hall, next to the old library.

From the switch, there were three possible exits: one on the opposite end of the gym, one door on the same side of the hall as the gym, about 40 or 50 feet further than the gym from where they were, and a final exit at the complete end of the hall, maybe 25 feet beyond the second exit. There were only two classrooms between the switch and the door, which meant that there were two potential danger areas. Together they deduced that the second of those two rooms must be the testing area, which made the third exit fairly unlikely. Also, with the interior of the gym being so unknown, the safest exit was the second door. This would point them in a westerly direction, facing a few homes and a small, run-down strip mall. To their north would be more homes, and a construction site, which would be good for hiding temporarily.

The plan came together fairly easily once the location of everything was determined. Blake would be taken for testing as usual, and with their captors not keeping him under such tight security he would be able to knock out the one or two that were taking him. He would then flip the switch to their room to let out Liz. He'd take care of anyone who tried to take them on, and as she passed the gym, she'd hit the rest of the switches and they'd escape through the decided door. There were about a million things that could go wrong but between Blake's intel and Liz's strength, they could pull this off fairly quickly.

The decision to split up was made very easily. These people would expect them to stay together because of their proximity within the complex. They had a better chance of escaping completely if they split up. It was also decided that they would take Angelique and Gustav out of the complex if they wanted to. They would talk about it when they got back. Liz had a number of friends in the neighbourhood, and gave Blake detailed directions on how to get to their houses. He, Angelique and Gustav could stay with them until they were strong enough to strike out on their own, as they were all very trustworthy and would help them as they had helped Liz in the past.

But Angelique and Gustav didn't return from their tests that day, nor did they return for dinner that night. Blake and Liz were officially worried, as this was what happened to Blake just before he got moved to a new cell. Neither of them wanted to leave them behind, but this was the only chance they had. Blake had overheard a few of the guards talking about starting Liz's own testing within the next couple of days, and they wanted to make their stand while she was still at full strength.

The next morning, Liz woke earlier than normal. Blake still slept in his cot on the other side of the room, but it was the empty beds that worried Liz the most. She was terribly worried for Angelique and Gustav. They had been so caring towards her when she arrived at the facility and she didn't want them to suffer if she and Blake were successful in escaping.

She was pulled from her thoughts by Blake rising from his bed, and shaking his head to clear the cobwebs in his brain. Liz couldn't figure him out. Here he was, having been in the facility for four months, and he had more conviction and resolve than someone like Gustav who had been there a fraction of the time. It was incredibly unlikely, but she was extremely thankful for him. She would have lost all hope if he hadn't been there.

Suddenly, the door opened to reveal a pair of burly gentlemen. Liz looked at Blake with a frightened expression, yet he regarded her calmly. He let his gaze linger on her for a few seconds longer before rising to walk over to the door. Liz tried to calm herself, and forced herself to stay in her spot on her bed. Blake turned to look at her once more as he walked through the door. He gave her a subtle wink and a quick smile, and stepped through the door with the two men. As soon as the door shut behind them, Liz was on her feet and at the room's entrance. She pressed her ear to the door and waited for Blake's signal. There was a loud click in her ear, and she understood that the doors had been locked up. As she listened intently, she heard the subtle sounds of a struggle, and knew that Blake was trying to take down his guards. She heard a loud series of thuds, and then another loud click.

That was it. She grabbed the door handle and threw it open. Taking a quick glance to her left to ensure that no one was there, she bolted to the right and to Blake. He had started his run to their exit, and was keeping watch for anyone who could make trouble for them.

Liz jumped over the two men that had escorted Blake from the room, and nearly ran into the wall with the panel. She flicked all the switches on the panel, and took off as fast as she could towards Blake. He was taking on a guard that had come out of the testing room, and overpowered him fairly quickly, his weakened appearance obviously hiding his strength. Passing him in the hallway, she threw open the door with her shoulder, and he followed her out into the bright sunlight.


	5. Chapter 5

***** 5 – Unbelievable Actions *****

Liz looked around to reacquaint herself with her surroundings. She remembered this area of the school well, having been part of a memorial service for a fellow student out there. The tree that they had planted for this student was still standing nearby. She looked over at Blake, who had run past her and over to the sidewalk. She could see his mouth moving, yelling at her to get a move on, but her hearing was momentarily gone. Luckily, she still started to move, and eventually flew past him towards the small, two-floored strip plaza. She knew that all the shops were on the ground floor, and the owners lived on the second. She knew a few of them, and hoped that they would be in good spirits today.

She could see Blake out of the corner of her eye, running at full speed towards the construction site. She knew that he'd be able to lose himself easily in there. Knowing that he would be ok, she crossed the street towards the small plaza. The first place she thought of to hide was her favourite dry cleaning place. The owners, Mr. And Mrs. Smythe, were great friends with her mom, and had watched her a few times when she was a child. It was probably her best bet, and she could probably grab some clothes to wear while she was at it. Liz started really pushing her speed, as she ran along the front of the plaza. She could hear, in the distance, the faint sound of shouts coming from the school.

"Miss Liz!" she smiled and ran towards the familiar voice of Mrs. Smythe. She could always be counted on to be outside for a morning cigarette. Mrs. Smythe was also a very observant lady, and knew that something was wrong before Liz even got to her side. "Are you alright Miss Liz, you look afright."

"I've had a bit of trouble this morning Mrs. Smythe," Liz panted. "May I please use your phone?"

"Of course dear, right this way." Mrs. Smythe led her inside, and locked the door of the store behind her. She brought an exhausted Liz upstairs and gave her a glass of water to calm her nerves. "Now what's going on?"

"Honestly, I feel foolish about the whole thing," Liz started, preparing to tell one massive lie. "I was out with this guy last night, and he must have slipped something in my drink. I woke up this morning, in a strange house, and all my clothes were gone. I'm so scared of what he did. I know I should have called the police immediately, but I was afraid of what would happen if he came back. So I grabbed the first clothes I saw, and ran for it." Liz looked down at her wardrobe. "I guess he's a surgical assistant or something."

"Oh you poor thing!" Liz felt immensely guilty for lying to her dear friend, but she had no choice. The woman would never believe the truth. "I have some of your clothes here at the store, I can get them for you if you'd like something a little more comfortable." Liz couldn't have felt more guilty or grateful at the same time.

"Mrs. Smythe, I'm so sorry to come here like this. I really appreciate you taking me in. But I don't want you going downstairs right now. I think he may have followed me, and I don't want you to get caught in the middle."

"Don't worry dear, your clothes are in the back of the store. I won't even be near the front. If he has followed you, he won't see me, I assure you." Mrs. Smythe patted Liz's hand and walked down to the store. Liz stayed right where she was. She wanted to look outside and see where she could go from here, but she didn't want to take the risk. These people would be looking for her, and she couldn't risk getting caught. So she waited patiently for Mrs. Smythe to come back up with whatever clothes Liz had left with her.

"Here we go dear, freshly pressed and all." Liz looked up at the sound of Mrs. Smythe's voice. Her friend was presenting her with her favourite black dress pants, and a blue v-neck tank top. Not the best outfit for going on the run, but it was a welcome change from the white scrubs she was in. It would also be easier to blend into a crowd in these clothes. She quickly changed as Mrs. Smythe refilled her water glass.

Liz was just putting her hair back into a messy ponytail when she heard it: the distinct sound of glass breaking on the floor below her feet. They were looking for her, and they wouldn't stop until they found her. And she had put Mrs. Smythe in danger. She had to do something. Acting as quickly and as quietly as she could, she made her way to the kitchen, and whispered in Mrs. Smythe's ear. She felt the woman tense in panic, but she spoke softly and soothingly, telling her that she was going to help. Quickly, she urged Mrs. Smythe into the bathroom with her cordless phone, and pushed a kitchen chair under the doorknob. She didn't want these people to become violent with her elderly friend for helping, so she made it look like she hadn't had a choice.

Once Mrs. Smythe was secure in the bathroom, Liz moved swiftly to the open window in the bedroom. Grabbing a nail file she found on the dresser, she ripped into the mesh screen, tearing it enough for her hands to make the small hole bigger, big enough to slide through. She could hear footsteps on the stairs as she pulled herself up onto the dresser and halfway through the hole.

Without warning, the door burst open, and a tall, angry-looking man raced in brandishing a handgun. He looked towards the bathroom, where Mrs. Smythe was now banging on the door, trying to get out. His head whipped around and saw Liz trying to escape out the window. The gun swung in her direction, and she froze.

"It's over," he said to her, his voice full of rage. "You've got nowhere to go now."

"I'm not going back with you!" Liz shouted back.

"Look, you've got two options, and only one of them ends with you alive."

"You won't kill me. For some reason you need me. Why, I don't know, but you do."

"That's what you think," he said raising the gun higher. Liz paled when she realized that he was fully prepared to kill her. She was running out of options fast. "Last chance," he said.

Liz looked at her surroundings and couldn't seem to find a way out.

"1."

Mrs. Smythe kept screaming as loud as she could.

"2."

Liz prayed that Blake had managed to escape this fate.

"3."

This was it. Liz knew that she was out of time, so the only thing she could do was act on instinct. She closed her eyes and raised her hands in front of her in an attempt to save herself. Just as the gun was about to go off, she acted on impulse once more.

"Protego!" she shouted as loud as she could.

**- BANG -**

When the bullet didn't hit her, and she didn't hear it sail by her, Liz opened her eyes to see a remarkable sight in front of her.

She could still see the man who was trying to kill her, but his image was distorted. There was a clear barrier between the two of them, but she couldn't figure out what it was. But the bullets he was shooting at her seemed to bounce right off the barrier. She'd never seen anything like this before in her life. It was almost like a shield…

"Oh my …" she whispered as she let her guard down for a split second.

**- BANG -**

She had let her guard down a split second too early. The last bullet in his cartridge flew past the weakened barrier and struck Liz in the shoulder. She was thrown backwards and dangled half out the window. As she teetered on the brink of consciousness for the second time in one week, she faintly heard her attacker walking towards her, as well as three quiet yet distinct pops.

"Expelliarmus!" cried a female voice.

"Petrificus Totalus!" followed a young sounding male voice.

"Obliviate!" called out a tired male voice.

Liz couldn't see what happened because she lost consciousness after those three shouts. But she missed a truly remarkable sight as the gun flew out of her attacker's hand and over to the corner of the room. He then froze like a statue at the second shout, and then collapsed limply on the floor at the third.

Once they were sure that he wasn't getting up, they approached him, stepping out of the shadows of the apartment. The woman stared angrily at the man on the floor, causing her pink hair to flare an angry red. Next to her, the tired looking gentleman raised his kind eyes from the man on the floor to the young woman at the window. He moved quickly over to see to her as the young man stepped forward to help with the goon on the ground.

"He fell as hard as I hoped he would," whispered the young man.

"Blaise!" The woman was appalled. "We don't have time for that. We need to move quickly."

"She's right," said the man at the window. "Time's running much shorter than we thought." He gently lifted the girl down from the ledge, and the other two in the room gasped when they saw her.

"Oh no!" the woman cried out, running forward to smooth a stray curl from her forehead. "It can't be!"

"Damnit!" the younger male shouted, taking a kick at the dresser. "This is all my fault, I should have never let her go like that!"

"You couldn't have stopped this even if you had wanted to," the older man reminded them. "This had to happen."

"Will she be ok Remus?"

The man at the window turned to the pink-haired woman. "She'll be fine Dora, but we must move quickly. I'll take care of her. Blaise, you handle him, and Dora, you take the woman in the washroom."

The other two nodded and turned towards their charges, as the man holding the unconscious woman disappeared with another pop.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: I'm so sorry this took so long to get online, but it's been a crazy couple of weeks between the mad weather, post-Christmas mayhem and then getting back to work. We're starting to get into the meat of the mystery, so once this chapter's done, answers will slowly start leaking out, along with a few new questions of course. :)_

***** 6 – Voices *****

"We got there right after it happened, but I fear there may be much damage."

"We'll just have to wait for Poppy to be done with her, and then we'll see what can be done."

"What can we do until then?"

"Praying might not hurt. She's lost a lot of blood by the look of it."

"I want to be in there with her. I should be in there with her."

"Dear, you know that there's nothing you can do in there right now. Let Poppy work her magic, and then I promise you can be the first to see her."

"Hey!"

"Mum!"

"Enough from you two!"

Both familiar and unfamiliar voices floated into Liz's mind as she slumbered. She was aware of what had happened, and knew she was alive, but for some reason she couldn't wake up. She tried to fight her exhaustion, but found that she was just that: exhausted beyond belief. Liz couldn't remember ever feeling this tired before in her entire life. Sighing in defeat, she relaxed her body, and let her tired self regenerate her strength.

While her body slept, her mind was jumping with what had happened. She had a million questions and no one to answer them. Was Blake ok? Did he manage to get away from the facility guards? What had those people been doing to them? Why were they taken away from everything they knew and hidden away inside an old school? Whatever happened to Gustav and Angelique? Was Mrs. Smythe alright? And how on Earth did she manage to produce that forcefield that could block bullets?

Liz's mind tried coming up with logical answers for her questions, but she came up empty every time. She kept feeling like she should know the answers, despite the preposterousness of some of her questions, but she couldn't put her finger on the answers she so desperately needed.

And after a while her tired mind decided to join her body in sleep. She would need them both at full capacity to deal with whatever life threw at her next. But just as she was getting ready to let her mind shut down, she felt a warm hand slip into hers. She couldn't open her eyes to see who it was just yet, but she heard a soothing male voice near her ear.

"I'm so sorry I let you go through that. You're the last person on Earth that deserved that."

What was this person talking about? The voice was familiar to her, accent and all. But she needed to put a face to the voice, and her body wasn't going to help her with that just yet.

"You've been through so much already. We all have."

Been through what? And why did this man sound so sad?

"I've missed you every day since you've been gone. We've been searching for years, trying to find you so we could bring you home."

Home? Back in Toronto? Why would he need to search, she'd been there since she was little.

"I promise you this: when you wake up, we'll make it all right again. You'll be back with us, and we'll be together, just like old times."

Liz could feel her body starting to wake up. She only hoped that the strangely familiar voice kept talking until she did.

"I know you're in there, and I know you can hear me. I'll never leave you again, I swear it!"

He sounded so passionate in his oath. Liz fought her way back to consciousness as he continued.

"I lost you once. There's no way I'm letting you go again."

She was almost there, she could feel it!

"I love you."

Her heart nearly broke at the sadness in his voice, and she finally broke through. She could feel her eyes opening painfully slowly, but opening nonetheless. Liz looked around carefully to catch a glimpse of who had spoken, but her vision was too blurry. She saw a shadowy figure kiss her left hand, and stand up to leave. Using what little strength she had, she gripped the hand that held hers just a little harder. She knew he felt it when he whipped around to gaze at her waking face.

"Merlin! You're awake!" Liz could hear the joy in his voice. He swooped down to kiss her forehead, and then jumped back up. Letting go of her hand for a few seconds, he bolted to the door, and flung it open. "She's awake!" She heard his shout, followed by cries of happiness from outside the room. Immediately following these sounds, she shadowy man was back, with others at his side.

"It really is miraculous that she woke so soon. I imagined it to be a few days more before she joined us again," said a warm, comforting female voice.

"Ah, my dear Poppy, you underestimate her. She has always been well ahead of everything else, and I expect her recovery to be no different." This came from a kind male voice that warmed Liz's very soul.

Her vision finally began to clear, and the shadowy shapes around her started to take human form. To her left was a sweet-looking elderly woman, wearing a white apron over a red gown. She was checking her wrist pulse, so Liz assumed that she was the doctor of the group. In front of her, at the foot of the bed, was the owner of the warmest voice and kindest eyes that Liz had ever seen. His long silver beard ran past the top of the bed and out of her line of sight, and his bright blue eyes twinkled beneath half-moon spectacles that sat atop his long nose. Liz couldn't help but give him a weak smile, which he wholeheartedly returned.

But it was the vision to her right that made her heart stop. Sitting next to her bed, holding her hand tighter than she'd ever felt in her life, was a face that she did recognize. The silly smile on his face changed his appearance from the last time she saw him, making him look almost unrecognizable. But the white-blond hair and silver eyes beneath his tears swept across her vision, and she felt another soft smile grace her features.

"You're the man from the park," she whispered weakly. "The one with the baseball."

His eyes lit up even more than she thought possible. He turned to look at the old man, and said excitedly, "She remembers! She remembers me!"

"Calm down Draco, you don't want to frighten the poor girl. She has, after all, been through a terrible ordeal." The old man had a smile on his face, but his words were serious.

"Albus is right my boy," the woman named Poppy said as she felt Liz's forehead. "The best thing for her right now is come peace and quiet."

Her blond stranger, whose name she now knew to be Draco, allowed himself to sink comfortably back into his chair, but his eyes held hers with the same excitement she had just heard in his voice.

"Where am I?" Liz asked to the group in general.

"You are at our Headquarters, my dear," replied the old man named Albus.

What was it with everyone calling her 'dear' lately? First Angelique and Gustav back in the cell, then Mrs. Smythe, and now this strange man. Liz shrugged it off though. "Headquarters for what?"

Draco and Poppy seemed taken aback at the question. Poppy threw a hand to her chest as Draco narrowed his eyes, furrowing his brow in the process. But Albus merely smiled.

"The Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix," was his soft reply. "You're currently residing at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place."

"What's an Order of the Phoenix?" Liz asked, trying to clarify everything.

Poppy outright gasped at this, and Liz felt Draco squeeze her hand tighter. Albus was the only one that remained calm, and this helped Liz to not freak out.

"Poppy, Draco, would you give us a moment, please?"

Normally, Liz would not have liked the idea of being alone in a room with a strange man, especially when she was in the state she was, but there was something about Albus that kept her calm. So she didn't object when his associates left the room, although it did feel a little colder without Draco in it.

"What is your name my dear?"

Albus was addressing her now as he came around to sit in Draco's spot. "Liz Cooper," was her quiet response.

"And what city do you reside in Miss Cooper?"

"Toronto."

"Canada?"

"Yes."

Albus was quiet for a moment as he listened to his thoughts.

"Sir?"

Now it was Liz's turn to capture his attention. "Yes?"

"Why am I here?"

"You needed medical attention, and under the circumstances, this was the best we could do."

"How do you all seem to know me, yet I don't know you?"

"That, Miss Cooper, is a much bigger explanation than I am willing to give you right now. You are physically exhausted from your ordeal, and could use a good night's rest."

Liz wanted to protest, wanted to jump up and demand the answers from him, but she knew that he was right. She could do all of that tomorrow when she felt stronger.

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

Albus smiled kindly at Liz's innocent question. "I am always here my dear, whenever you need me." He placed a gentle hand on Liz's cheek, and she let the warmth of it envelop her as she drifted off back to sleep.

Removing his hand slowly from her cheek, Albus smoothly made his way to the door, outside of which an anxious crowd waited for him.

"She's ok then?"

"No damage from the bullet?"

"And she remembers us?"

"How soon can we see her?"

"When can she come home?"

Albus raised his hands and the barrage of questions fell silent. "She will be alright once she has some rest. No, there will be no lasting damage from the bullet. Poppy should be able to heal her scar quite nicely. You'll all be able to see her in the morning, but for now let her sleep. It has been a very trying day for her."

"Albus?"

He turned to look at the petite redheaded girl next to him. "Yes Miss Weasley?"

"Albus, you know it's no longer Miss Weasley, but Mrs. Potter."

He smiled at her. "Of course my dear, I apologize. Old habits die hard."

"You didn't answer my question though."

"Nor mine," added Draco from the side of the group.

Albus let out a great sigh, knowing that he could not escape such questions. "I'm not sure when she can go home Mr. Malfoy. It seems that she truly believes that she is someone else. She believes herself to truly be Liz Cooper of Toronto, Canada. And I'm afraid that I don't know how long it will take to convince her otherwise."

The whole crowd in front of him fell silent, as many of them lost their best friend all over again, after only just getting her back.


	7. Chapter 7

***** 7 – Familiar Faces & Strange Places *****

"And they're sure she's going to make it through."

Liz was hearing voices again. This one sounded extremely familiar, especially in the hushed tone it was using. The next voice she heard was one she could actually now match to a face without seeing.

"Both Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey are saying that she'll recover completely form the wound. It's the memory loss that has everyone worried." Draco's voice was as quiet as the other, and it was only now that Liz registered the fact that he was once again holding her hand as she slept. She wondered if he had gotten any sleep at all.

"I know that's the big concern, but I gotta tell you man, I was so terrified when I saw Remus pull her from that window. I've never seen anyone that pale."

"You should have seen me when they brought her in like that. I thought I'd pass out right in the front hallway." Liz felt a light hand gently stroking her forehead. "I thought I was losing her all over again."

The silence fell in the room, and Liz decided to break the ice herself. Pulling her strength together, she opened her eyes weakly. Her eyes fell upon Draco, who was right at her side, his hand still stroking her forehead. At the sight of her opened eyes, he smiled, and gently removed his hand.

"Hey," he whispered to her, his eyes shining.

"Hi," she whispered back, feeling the swell of emotions coming from him. It was extremely powerful. "How long have I been out?"

"You were asleep for the first week of you being here. After you woke up, you fell back asleep for another three days."

"Haven't slept that long in a while," Liz said, slowly trying to sit up. Draco quickly moved up to her side to help her raise herself up, and adjust the pillows behind her so she could sit comfortably.

"Same here," he told her as she settled herself in a sitting position on her bed and he took her hand once more. He had been gazing at her the entire time, and she felt oddly warmed by his look. She gave him a grateful smile, but was pulled from her trance by someone clearing their throat in the corner. Liz removed her eyes from Draco and let them fall on the source of the cough.

The last time she had seen him, he had been gaunt and unhealthy with dirty hair and hollow eyes. Now, as he approached her bedside, she saw that his hair was clean and pulled away from his face, and his blue eyes shone at the sight of her. He had miraculously gained some weight, and finally looked proportional with his body, complete with burly arms and a tall proud stance. Liz couldn't believe it was the same man. How long had she been asleep?

"Blake?" she asked timidly.

He allowed a smile to settle itself on his handsome face as he moved closer. "Actually, it's Blaise. Blake's a name I use when I go undercover."

Liz stared in disbelief. "How?"

Blake, or Blaise, sat on the opposite side of the bed as Draco, and wrapped Liz in a warm hug, which she wholeheartedly returned. Draco let Liz's hand slip from his grasp to give Blaise a solid hug, but took it back once they had pulled apart. Strangely, Liz didn't seem bothered by this. It seemed almost natural.

"I'm so sorry that I left you out there." Liz furrowed her brow at Blaise's comment.

"What do you mean?" she inquired. "You had no idea they would come after me like that. I figured they'd be chasing after you more because you'd been in the facility longer."

Blaise and Draco exchanged a knowing look that served to confuse Liz. She glanced back and forth between them, the expression on her face willing one of them to explain what she apparently didn't know.

Just as Blaise opened his mouth, an uncomfortable and hesitant look on his face, the door to Liz's room opened, and in came Albus, followed by a large and hopeful-looking group of people that she didn't recognize.

"Ah, I see you've reunited with an old friend, my dear," Albus observed as he glanced between Blaise and Liz.

"Yes, actually it was Blaise who got us out of that dreadful place." Liz shivered at her own statement, but felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand from Draco. She shot him a brief but grateful smile that was not missed by anyone in the room. Feeling braver now that she knew she was supported (even if she didn't know why), she continued. "I'm not entirely sure how though."

Suddenly, everyone in the room seemed utterly fascinated with their shoes. Liz looked around, confused once again.

"I believe the time has come to tell you the whole story my dear," Albus said again. He was calling her 'dear' again. Liz wished he would just call her by her name, but was concerned about this 'whole story' that they had to tell her.

"There's a story?" Liz asked, trying to bring some humour to the situation, but failing miserably. Once again, she felt a warm pressure applied to her hand, and she tightened her grip on Draco's in return.

"There's a fairly extensive story," Albus informed her.

"Would it be possible for me to not be in this bed when I hear it?"

Everyone's eyes went over to the woman in the red gown and apron. It took Liz a second to remember her name – Poppy, she believed. Poppy looked at Albus with a soft smile that betrayed the sadness in her eyes. "She has physically healed from her wounds, but I highly recommend that she takes it easy for the next few days. So yes, I suppose, it would be alright for her to leave her bed."

Liz breathed a sigh of relief. She was extremely uncomfortable with all of those people behind Albus staring at her. At least if she could get them into a normal room (a sitting room, perhaps), they wouldn't all be facing and focused on her.

"That settles it then. Why don't we give you a few minutes to change my dear?" Albus suggested.

"My clothes?" Liz asked.

"Your clothes were unfortunately torn & ripped during your struggle," a kind yet tired man who stood at the edge of the group told her.

"You can borrow some of mine," offered a redheaded girl next to the dark haired man Liz remembered from the park.

"Thank you," Liz smiled. The redhead's eyes sparkled as she smiled and skipped from the room.

"Why don't we all go wait in the sitting room in the meantime." It was more of an order from Albus, but everyone seemed perfectly content to follow his instruction. They all shuffled towards the doorway, including Draco, who had given Liz's hand one last squeeze before standing. "Molly," Albus started again, and Liz saw an older redheaded woman turn to look at him. "Could I request your services for a few minutes in the kitchen. I think our guest here might be a little hungry after all she's been through."

Molly's eyes flew to Liz, who suddenly realized how right he was. Her stomach pained her with hunger. Giving her a soft smile, identical to the younger redhead's, Molly nodded and headed out of the room.

The younger girl returned just as the last of the group left the room. She placed her clothes and a hair elastic on the edge of the bed, and carefully helped Liz out of the bed before leaving again so she could change. Now that she was alone, the full weight of what had happened settled over her. She felt exhausted and dirty from it all, and felt an incredibly strong urge to take a three-hour bath. But Albus had seemed adamant that she hear the truth about what was really happening around her. Maybe she would ask for a bath after she had been fully informed of the situation. She was rather curious about it all. Dressing quickly, she threw her hair into a messy bun, allowing a few of her long curls to frame her face. She glanced in the mirror on the dresser, and sighed at her tired appearance. It had been a long few days.

Just as she opened the door, she suddenly realized that she had no idea where she was, nor where the sitting room actually was. Relief flooded through her when she stepped out into the hallway and found Draco waiting for her.

"I had a feeling you'd get lost on your own, and everyone seems really anxious to see you again," he said, smiling slightly.

"How very perceptive of you," Liz joked with him. "But I'm sure I could have found my way on my own."

"I have no doubt of that. But this way we don't have to send out a search party for you. It is a rather large house, and it is very easy to get lost around here." He held out his arm to her, and she accepted it, letting him lead her down the stairs and through various corridors.

Liz looked at the walls around her as they walked. "Whose house is this?"

"Harry's. His godfather left it to him when he passed."

"Which one is Harry?"

Draco looked a little stricken at this question, but he brushed it off quickly. "He's the one with the dark hair that was with me in the park."

"The one that was holding hands with the girl who got me the clothes."

He nodded. "That's Ginny, his wife."

"And Molly's her mother?"

"Yes." Liz felt a small swell of pride at the fact that she had deduced that on her own. "The other man that was in the park with us is Molly's youngest son, Ron."

"And who are the rest of them?"

"Why don't we save these questions for later? I have a feeling you're going to be on information overload in a little bit, and I don't want you to overwhelm you with having to remember everyone's name too."

"Fair enough," Liz said as they entered a large room with a high ceiling and dark curtains. In the centre of the room was a long, low-sitting wooden table that was covered from end to end with food. Molly had apparently been hard at work in the few minutes it had taken Liz to change. Everyone was settled around the room in various couches, chairs, or even the floor in some cases, and it appeared that they were all taking advantage of the wonderful spread in front of them. Draco led her to a small yet comfortable looking loveseat directly across from Albus, and sat down with her. He removed his arm from her grasp, and took her hand in a comforting gesture.

"Now, I know you may have many questions my dear, and I will try to answer them as best I can, but I ask that you please allow me to tell the full story before you pose them."

Liz had been taking a sip of the water that Draco had handed her while Albus spoke, but she nodded silently. She reached forward to pick up a sandwich and tucked her legs under her as she sat back. This had her leaning into Draco slightly, and she glanced up at him as if asking permission to do so. He smiled and gave her an almost imperceptible nod, and then placed an arm behind her across the back of the loveseat.

She smiled back once more (she seemed to be doing that a lot around him), and then turned her full attention to Albus to hear what he had to say.


End file.
